


Careful with Your Captive

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Force Ghost Qui-Gon Jinn, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-24 05:18:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14348751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: As the 501st is pinned down in an overwhelming campaign, young Commander Tano, padawan to The Hero With No Fear, has been captured!





	1. Serenno Hospitality

Normally, Qui-Gon Jinn found the presence of the Sith to be too difficult to overcome.

Normally, his great grand-padawan wasn't an unwilling guest of one of them.

Qui-Gon never had much cared for obeying the rules of 'normal'. One way or another, he had to try and help her escape.

* * *

Ahsoka winced as she dropped from the manacles that had been holding her up on the wall, both of her shoulders feeling a little more than bruised, and her wind only slowly coming back to her from the pressure of hanging that had left it hard to breathe.

She flicked her eyes over at the pool of the Force that eddied just out of the corner of her vision, confirming it was growing stronger, more visible.

~Of course you're rescuing yourself.~

There was that voice again, the one that came with the strange events around the 212th and the 501st, the one the boys swore they heard before being saved.

Ahsoka had heard it before, always with that faint eddy in the Force, and just put it aside for meditation before promptly forgetting to do so.

~Didn't think I hit my lek hard enough to rattle my brain,~ she muttered, with her mind voice, rather than out loud. It earned a chuckle from the resonant voice.

~Oh little one, you did not. And good; you did hear me this time.~

~I've heard you before, but never at a good time to think on it,~ Ahsoka said. ~Who are you?~

The voice laughed, low and soft, and answered, ~Qui-Gon Jinn, little one. Now, how are you doing at this whole escape thing?~ 

~Out of the shackles, and checking for a vent,~ Ahsoka said, well aware that ventilation shafts were her friends in unfamiliar places. ~If I can just get out of the castle before The Sith Spit realizes I'm gone, I can make it.~

~I don't doubt that,~ Qui-Gon agreed, glancing around, trying to see what he could see. ~Hmm. There,~ he tried to point out the vent, but there was this problem where no-one, including her, could see him, and he directed her by word instead. ~I'll help as much as I can. I can at least watch out for you.~

~Thank you, Master.~ It wasn't the weirdest thing Ahsoka had been through, after all, and if a ghost wanted to talk to her as she tried to avoid being electrocuted by a Sith or used as bait in a trap, then so be it.

She did spot the air vent and reached out with the Force to undo the grille, frowning because it felt harder than normal. Then she remembered just how hard she had been fighting when she was captured.

"This might take longer than --" She snapped her mouth shut and whirled toward the door, hearing a squad of droids coming down the hall. Concentrating on her montrals, she 'saw' enough mass to be at least three B1s, and a B2. Well, at least they weren't underestimating her. She prepared to attack them when the door opened…

… only to be slammed back against the wall behind her because one of the smaller masses turned out to be Asajj Ventress.

"Oh, look, Skywalker's pet undid her bracelets," she said.

Qui-Gon snarled, though it was a mostly inaudible sound, and tried to gather his strength to throw against Ventress -- there was little enough he could do in the physical world, but he could, he hoped, unbalance her. 

Asajj stumbled, and Ahsoka was quick to jump, an acrobatic cannonball that aimed for the door and off the largest of the droids, making the small ones track her and fire indiscriminately. Asajj, however, was quick to regain her footing and snap a lightsaber out.

"You idiots!" she snapped when she had to deflect a blaster bolt from one of the droids, before giving pursuit to the aggravating little thorn.

~Poor droids,~ leaked out from Ahsoka at hearing Asajj's lightsaber cut one out of the path, but she kept moving.

~They are poor things,~ Qui-Gon agreed, as he went ahead of her, searching for a way out or into the ventilation shafts for her. It took a bit, but he flung his strength against a grille to make it make noise and draw her attention. ~Here.~ 

~Oh! Useful!~ Ahsoka launched herself up at it even as she used brute Force strength to pull the grille off.

"GET HER!!!" Asajj snarled behind them, precipitating more blaster fire, none of which landed until Ahsoka disappeared into the shaft. Then, the B2 hit the ventilation opening dead on, breaking the opening in such a way that they could not follow. "IDIOTS!"

Ahsoka kept her laughter from echoing too much, even though her calves stung from debris hitting them. ~Gotta hurry now; she'll have the openings swarming. Hope she's not smart enough to send a sparky in after me.~

~A sparky?~ Qui-Gon asked, as he went ahead of her, trying to find somewhere for her to escape through that would not drop her straight into worse trouble -- and the disorienting-feeling of the Sith being too close came to him from one particular turning. He went back to the previous crossing and called, ~This way, this way, not that way...~ 

Ahsoka let the Force eddy and voice pull her to a new course. ~This would be easier if you glowed in the dark or something,~ she grumped. ~Buzz-droids. Can kill a starfighter or astromech pretty easily with their buzzsaws, but they also have been showing electro-prods lately, to fight back against astromechs like Artoo and Arseven. Might not have any of those type here.~

She was thinking three steps ahead. She had to get out, before her Master came rushing in like Dooku wanted. She would need to steal a ship to get off the planet. And then, somehow, she'd have to make it back to Republic space without getting blasted by either side.

~I happen to agree with you,~ Qui-Gon agreed, ~and oh, my. That sounds unpleasant. Yes. Let's hope not.~ 

~No lightsaber. No blaster. And my Force sense is very weak. Didn't really recover much hanging on that wall.~ Ahsoka gave a sigh. ~I really, really hope I manage to sneak free before Skyguy comes charging in. Because I know that is what Sithly Shebs wants.~

Qui-Gon chuckled, thinking of Plo and Ky's tendency to refuse to use his Master's name, and then hummed dark agreement. ~I... don't doubt that, actually. He seems to dislike my foundling rather intensely. Which is... among his many infuriating decisions of late.~ 

~That's funny, in a way. You Found my Skyguy, and Master Plo Found me, and you two were friends as younglings? I like that.~ Ahsoka came to an abrupt stop, as her montrals tingled with the whine of an electronic device.

She widened her eyes to use the full light that was present, until she spotted the sensor in the seam. This was going to be a fiddly use of her Force ability, as she tried to follow the hum of energy so she could disable it without it reporting her.

~Youngling clanmates,~ Qui-Gon agreed, and then fell silent as he felt her concentration. He didn't want to distract her while she was working. 

Ahsoka made a press of the Force on the circuit, just so… and nothing seemed to go off anywhere she could hear. She started forward again, satisfied by her handiwork, but now her head was hurting. Force-burnout was a thing, she remembered, none too pleased that her kinetic ability might be on the fritz.

~Oh. Water. Food. Can't recover Force use without recovering body use,~ she said softly in her own head, a lesson drilled into Initiates in their first year.

~Very true. And very nicely done,~ he praised her, worrying about the condition she was getting into. Not that she had any choice, really. Not in the situation she was in. 

~Might find a rat,~ she said with a brief nod to herself, happy to contemplate hunting. She kept moving, unwilling to open to the Force the way she could have, to offset the physical, because that would also let the Force users find her easier. Shielding was better now, and being a little weak in Force levels helped that.

How long she moved, she wasn't certain, and there were no rats for her along the path, until she distinctly smelled a change in the air quality, indicating an intake. They had heard droids several times, and Ahsoka had broken three more sensors, but maybe they were close to escape.

The cold, hard abrasion of the Dark Side, in its full Sith ability, was suddenly very close too, the spectre realized.

~No, Ahsoka!~ Qui-Gon cried, ~back, back as quick as you can! Quiet, dear little one!~ 

Ahsoka went flat against the bottom of the shaft, and began slinking back, silent and small as she could be, trying to evade detection. ~It's Darth Fancypants,~ she acknowledged in her mind to the ghost.

~Do you have those already thought up, or are they spontaneous?~ Qui-Gon asked, amused. 

~What… oh. It's a bit of both? The boys put so much weight in Names that I prefer not to give him his. Kind of like Skyguy and Master Yoda. Skyguy really doesn't like to have to say his name.~ She then snorted. ~The Skyguy thing happened before I really knew how important Names are, but he tolerates it better than 'master' and Rex lets me get away with nicknames for him.~

~They do take their chosen Names seriously, don't they?~ Qui-Gon asked, as he had become quite fond of them, watching over his boys. ~And... mm. That does not surprise me at all -- that he would react poorly to 'master', though he uses it easily enough with my Obi-Wan.~ 

Ahsoka had to stifle a giggle. ~That's not what he means when he says it to Master Obi-Wan,~ she told him. She then shot her gaze back to the vent, just out of reach and tensed up.

"If you fail me yet again, Ventress, it will not go well for you at all," came the deep tones of the Sith, too close to that vent for comfort. There was no answer, but Ahsoka thought she heard a communicator click.

Only one of them, even if there were a pair of magna-guards near, was better than both. Only, could she escape the man that made her masters both exhausted just to try and keep him contained in a fight? If he lost patience and killed her, that wouldn't actually end the threat to her master; Skyguy would invade just to avenge her then, and his temper would ignite and the boys would pay for it… no, she could not allow that.

~No? Then what does he mean when he says it?~ Qui-Gon asked, amused, even as the comment he heard from his Master made him want to swear. 

~'I love you', I think, because he doesn't say that aloud, but it's in his eyes and actions,~ Ahsoka sent, most of her focus completely on that vent, ready to move when needed. ~He cares so much.~

~He does,~ Qui-Gon agreed. ~He loves so deeply, when he chooses to.~ He wasn't sure why he was currently so much more able to hang on to this plane than usual, so close to his Fallen Idiot, but if he could help his great-grand padawan, it was well. 

That gave him a thought. ~I'm going to go see if I can't make some of the sensors away from you trigger, please rest for the moment.~ 

~Am, Master.~ Ahsoka was coiling her energy, what she had left, aware that this was very much going to be a one-shot chance for freedom before the 501st came after her and things got messy. 

She could only hope they were still tied down in their campaign.

~Good,~ Qui-Gon replied, brushing against her for a moment, intangible as he was, to comfort her, before he flitted away and up a few levels to trip sensors as best he could by warping bits of the vents near them. 

Ahsoka heard the man outside the vent turn and move, the crackle of the magna-guards' staffs accompanying the movement soon after. She held her breath, listening, trying to gauge when it was actually clear so she could get free.

Qui-Gon set off two more, enough time between that it would be reasonable for her to be scrambling between them, and bounced back to her, fading out and in. ~Oh, good, he's further away now...~ 

~I think it's clear, too,~ Ahsoka sent back, ~but I'll be gentle with the vent grille just in case.~ She slid forward, until she could both see and hear through the grille, testing her theory, before she found the catches and manipulated them with the Force to allow her to open it silently. ~Oh I hope I can find an organic's ship,~ she complained, feeling lightheaded as she started to drop out of the shaft.

~As do I,~ Qui-Gon agreed. ~Though you should be able to put yourself into trance if all else fails, and manage the hyperspace journey that way.~ 

~You can teach me? I was supposed to learn after the worm thing, but then other things happened,~ she said, remembering the freezing cold in that cabin, and worrying over Barriss. She pushed the thoughts away, focusing, and took in her new environment. She'd made it to an outer courtyard, she thought, and she could see a ship of some sort on a landing pad, not too many meters up from her present level.

~I should be able to, yes,~ Qui-Gon agreed, looking around and spotting only what she did. He saw a distinct lack of guards, as well, which was either a very bad thing or a stroke of luck. ~Ugh,~ he said, at another thought, ~this is even more depressing than the last time I was here.~ 

~Sorry to drag you here. Can't be easy, knowing your Master Fell,~ she sent before taking a running jump at the wall to start climbing.

~No, it's not, but I've had a while to get used to it,~ Qui-Gon replied, ~and you did not 'drag' me. Though this is the closest I've gotten to him -- generally, the Sith taint on Force from his presence can banish me.~ 

Instinctively, the padawan wrapped her sense of the Force around the spot he was creating the eddy in energy. She did not want to be alone! 

~You stay close,~ she sent fiercely, as he felt a connection slip into place.

~You should save your strength, little one!~ Qui-Gon told her, but that connection felt... bafflingly good and strong, real and steady, and it felt as though he had a better ability to use the Force on the physical plane. Not that he was going to test that now unless he had to, just in case it would be borrowing hers. She had none to spare. ~But I will stay with you as long as I can, I promise you.~ 

She gave a content noise, then scrambled for new foot and hand holds, almost to the top. Her montrals told her when droids entered the courtyard, but she shoved herself up over the edge before anyone looked up.

Then she noticed which ship was here.

~Sith Spit's own sail ship,~ she breathed as a whisper in her own mind.

~Excellent, little one, excellent,~ Qui-Gon agreed with her, both the shock and the edge of euphoria, because he knew his one-time Master. Precious things would be aboard that ship, intelligence and information he did not wish out of his grasp. ~I have no knowledge of its workings, but you're Anakin's student and Plo's Foundling. Let me see if I can get the hatch.~ 

He flitted to it, and carefully sank energy into the lock, manipulating it until the ramp dropped. 

~Not bad for a dead guy,~ she teased. She moved in and saw the piloting droid, inactive, and quickly made that permanent with a twist of the Force on its motivator. 

A quick examination of controls found her the manual override, and it didn't take much from there to power up.

~Being dead should be useful for something,~ Qui-Gon replied with a chuckle, amused at her impudence -- for far from the first time -- as he perched next to her. 

The first of blaster shots could be heard then, but Ahsoka refused to fear them. She gave the ship power, and shot away from the castle, dodging vulture droids and human-piloted interceptors as she made for space. 

They took a few hits, but the surprise of her stealing the ship had given them an edge. Barely out of atmosphere, Ahsoka punched a hyperdrive jump that took them closer to Mandalore rather than the nearest Republic system. She'd jump again from there.

~Well done, little one,~ Qui-Gon praised her, ~very, very well done. Now, food and water for you, then sleep.~ 

~Bossy.~ She did look and find rations and liquids. "Have to encode the transponder first. In case we get knocked out of our jump." She grimaced at how scratchy her voice was from lack of water and drank more. ~Thank you. For helping me.~

~You are welcome, of course,~ Qui-Gon replied, ~and... ah, yes. That would, in fact, likely be wise. Ridiculous to do all of that work and then be shot down for something as simple as a forgotten code.~

~As soon as we're in real space again I'll send an encrypted message so Skyguy knows I'm safe,~ she added. She set about her work, touching as little as she could, so that she was as safe as could be on a stolen ship.


	2. Safely Recovering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahsoka's dodgy path takes her to a jedi that she shouldn't be immediately connected to by the enemy.

Lariat was on comms when the ship jumped into their space. The scouts were already homing in on it as he decrypted the signal, short-range comms only, that stated the ship was under Republic control, and whose authority was attached to that message.

"General! I've got a Punworcca 116 that just bounced in system, with a 'jacked transponder signal on short-range only! It's giving a clearance code we use!"

"Originating person?" Aayla Secura asked, even as she stepped over to see the sensor scan, signing 'hold' at the firing control.

"Commander Tano, 501st, sir," Lariat said, mystified at that idea.

Captain Rex had managed a report out that Skywalker had been injured severely in one engagement, with Tano's company having taken heavy losses and the commander herself missing in the clean-up after. The 501st was still pinned down at their end of things, waiting for relief from the 41st and Luminara Unduli. However, that had not been disseminated beyond Jedi and vod'e officers, given how poorly the men handled lost Jedi.

"Three ship escort, get her into our forward bay," Aayla ordered. "Commander, have a squad of commandos meet me there. And a medic." She turned to leave the bridge and go see if this really was the young padawan.

"Yes sir," Bly answered, and tapped his comm to make it so. If the young Padawan-Commander was really aboard, and hurt or in need of help, he wanted his best there with her. He liked Tano quite a bit, after all.

* * *

Aboard the ship, Qui-Gon hovered behind Ahsoka worriedly -- they hadn't found much that was suitable for her, though there'd been water in plenty, and dropping out of hyperspace had awakened her -- and watched the _Ventator_ closely. The reassuring voice of a _vod_ came across the comms shortly, though, steady and even, and he relaxed a little. 

Ahsoka shook off the lethargy of too little food, too much Force use, and the crash of having had to deal with the fact her men had likely all been killed in snatching her from the battlefield. She was trying not to think too much on that, trying to be strong, but it hurt and ached in her bones.

She had, on the leg to Mandalore system, disabled all long-range comms, to keep the Seppies from beaming in any kind of kill codes on the ship, or corrupting the data. Now, hearing Lariat respond, she had hope that her boys' deaths were not in vain.

"Copy that, Lariat. Staying in the pipe, and heading for the bay," she replied when directions came for her to obey the three escorts' flight path and where to land.

"Good, sir," Lariat answered, smiling at hearing her call his name back, and relayed it to his General. Why Commander Tano was here, in a ship like that, he had no idea, but... they'd get her aboard safe. 

~As though you would do anything else,~ Qui-Gon muttered, but it was affectionate, and he waited again. 

~Yeah, but it's protocol. They don't have much, but they have that.~ She carefully followed the flight path that was laid in for her by the lead escort, drawing on the Force to try and look the part of a Jedi Padawan for the boys aboard Aayla's ship. It wouldn't fool her, might not fool her senior officer or non-com, but she had to try.

It didn't take long to get landed, though the gear deployed a moment too late, leading to a nasty bump and scrape on the decking. She winced, then hurried to disembark, remembering to keep her hands wide of her belt (not that she had lightsabers, and oh that was another worry to have) as she descended. She saw Aayla had the head of a squad of her commandos, and a vod with the red mark of a medic to one side behind them.

"Master," Ahsoka said in relief. "One deactivated pilot droid aboard, long range comms completely destroyed on purpose, and I don't think there are trackers, but you might want to get scanners in there.

"Since it's Dooku's ship and all."

Aayla stared at her, trying not to let her jaw drop, for a long moment, at the almost _idle_ comment from the ridiculous young woman in front of her. She felt... exhausted, drained, but entirely herself, not to Aayla's senses under any compulsion or duress. "Dooku's ship," she said, looking at it again. "I wondered, when I heard the class, but -- the debrief can wait. Riptide, Talon, start scanning that ship. 

"Ahsoka," she said, softer, "I'm so glad to see you. Can you make it to medical on your own, or do we need to activate a stretcher?"

Fracture shifted next to her, and she knew his opinion -- for the stretcher -- by the shift of his weight. 

She could walk, Ahsoka knew. But she knew it would be stupid, and Fracture was a good medic. Maybe her color was worse than she thought it was, or maybe he was being overprotective.

"If it's all the same, Master, I will take that stretcher. Medical's pretty far from this bay, and I haven't had proper food since I was taken, however long ago that was," she said. "Only… I couldn't risk a transmission? Can you please make sure my Captain and my Master know I made it back safe? Pretty sure I was supposed to be bait to draw him or Master Kenobi out, maybe both."

The men took that order of contacts and fell a little more in love with the Commander Vod'ika, given that she'd put the Captain first.

"Of course, Ahsoka," Aayla agreed, and smiled her pride at her for the maturity and the wisdom alike. "I only wanted to set eyes on you before I did. Cal, Flash." 

"Yes sir!" her two responded instantly and within a few moments they had the stretcher unfolded and activated, low so that she could settle on. Fracture moved to attach a diagnostic strip, and sent another of his brothers running for rations. 

Aayla called after the runner, "Meat only!" and got a hand-sign of understanding before he was gone. "I'll go make that comm, Ahsoka, and meet you in Medical soon." 

"Thank you, Master," Ahsoka said. "Thank, boys! I know I'm in great hands now," she added, causing Fracture to give a quick grin for that. He was conscious of needing to meet a high bar; **Kix** was her medic after all.

* * *

Squeak tuned the radio a bit more, trying to boost the signal; he'd be so kriffing glad when the _Resolute_ was able to jump back into system to have better range. Granted, that was if Admiral Yularen didn't just write them all off after that last attack.

He sighed in his own head; that was a bad thought, and the Admiral hadn't let them down yet. The 501st had taken a beating, land and sky this time, but they'd come through. They just had to hold on until the 41st broke through.

"Repeat all after unit designation," Squeak said once the signal cleared.

"General Secura for 501st command," Lariat replied, doing all he could to fine tune his own send, knowing the other man was trying his best.

"Hold a moment," Squeak answered, and turned his head to yell. With Rex not far away, it was easier than transferring the slagging comm. "Captain! Comm!" 

Aboard her ship, Aayla waited, her fingertips light on Lariat's shoulder. 

Rex came over quickly. Had there been a change in orders? He barely had enough supplies to wait for Unduli and Offee and Gree, so he hoped not.

"Captain Rex here," he said evenly.

"Captain, General Secura," Aayla answered. "I have good news for you. Your Commander is safe aboard my ship, and she brought... something valuable... back with her. She's wounded and malnourished, but safe. What news can I give her of her Master?" 

Rex clamped down on the fierce joy at that news so he could report. He felt Squeak all but vibrating with it.

"Skywalker is in medical, head and internal injuries but expected to recover before the relief arrives," Rex said. "He will be relieved to know she is safe."

"Of course," Aayla answered, "as will she, to know he is as well as he can be. I am, too. I won't keep you, Captain, but Force be with you."

"And with you, General." Rex let Squeak break the connection, patting the trooper's shoulder.

"Do I have to sit on this?" Squeak asked.

"Kriff no, vod. We're going to tell them all, give them one more reason to stay alive," Rex said before turning to go to medical. 

By habit, he scanned over everyone in the aid tent, adding another name to his litany at seeing one of the critical beds was vacant. He made his way to his general.

"Sir?"

Anakin roused at the sound of his Captain's voice, blinking once. "Yeah, Rex? What… no, you're happy…"

He'd already been worrying, as soon as Rex's voice started to wake him up, but Rex felt actually happy, almost euphoric. What? What the hell in this wretched, infernal campaign had Rex _happy_? 

"General Secura commed us, sir," Rex said, deliberately pitching his voice to be heard without being loud, so those that were awake would hear. "Commander Tano has made her way there. She's injured, malnourished, but alive and in safe hands now."

Anakin stared at him while everyone around them made sudden, stifled noises of joy and the Force erupted with it as well. Three of her boys, badly hurt but conscious, quickly had forearms over their eyes -- not that that was fooling anyone, especially not him -- to hide sudden tears, and he himself sucked a deep, slow breath. 

"I... Well, then. Trust Snips to get herself out of trouble before we can even get free to help. _Just_ like her, right, boys?" 

"Yes, sir," one of them answered, voice tight but so fiercely proud. 

"We'll have an adventure to hear about, when she's back with us!" another declared, focusing on the positive.

Rex gave a smile inside his bucket; that was how they coped with the horrible. He knew she'd spend time with her survivors, say the Litany for her lost ones, and then push herself ten times as hard to protect the rest. It was the way they survived.

"Thanks, Rex," Anakin said, low. "Glad you woke me, for that. ...I can feel it spreading in the camp. Good." 

"Squeak actually worried I was going to make him hold it back," Rex admitted. "Get some rest, sir. We've got this."

* * *

Ahsoka was sitting up in the medical bay, chewing happily on a piece of spicy jerky, letting Fracture run his scans. She now knew that her nervous system had been overloaded with a stun and drug combo, making it possible to abduct her. She had a minor fracture in her thumb where she had slipped the manacles, and a number of scorches and scrapes from the original combat.

~Not bad, for getting abducted by the chief Sith Spit himself,~ Ahsoka thought at Qui-Gon, if he was listening to her. She wasn't certain; there was more life here to block out awareness of his presence.

~Not bad at all,~ Qui-Gon agreed, moving close to her to brush his presence against her lightly. ~Far better than too many have fared.~ 

Aayla walked in, and smiled to see her sitting up and in an apparently good humor. "How is she, Fracture?" 

"Better than I was expecting," Fracture answered, "even if she is grumpy about the saline drip." 

"Makes me have to pee," Ahsoka said with no shame. "Hi, Master." She had not let herself think about what had happened beyond being free of it. "Did you get Rex or Sky -- my master?" she added. 

"I reached Captain Rex," Aayla agreed. "He informed me that your Master is injured but stable, and expected to recover quickly. It sounds like Luminara and Barriss aren't there yet, but we'll hope that will happen soon." 

"Yeah," Ahsoka said, even as she ached to be there, to help, to --

\-- get more men killed?

She closed her eyes as she remembered that last fight, of being surrounded before her retreat had secured a path back. She had called one, had tried to get them to a safer line, but the droids had poured on the firepower.

"Must do better," she whispered to herself, remembering that men could see her, and she had to be strong. She couldn't let them see her falter like this.

~Shh,~ Qui-Gon sent to her, ~shh, little one. It is not your fault.~ 

"I tell myself that every time," Aayla told her, just as soft, as she was standing close enough to hear her. 

Ahsoka reached out with the hand that had the needle in it, unwilling to set her jerky down, and lightly touched Aayla's hand. "My master does too." She sent Qui-Gon a quiet gratitude, before looking over at the bag. "Soon as this is done, I should be able to go brief you? Or, do you want to just do it here? I don't think anything I ran into is security issue, since, well, I landed the biggest bit of it in your bay."

She let her impertinent attitude be her defense against grief and regret.

Aayla nodded, her mouth quirking up at the corners at the impertinent girl, and nodded. "So you did," she agreed, "and that is a prize indeed. Here, I think, so Fracture can continue to keep an eye on you." 

She tapped the record function on her comm and settled to listen. 

Ahsoka settled to recount that last fight, so it could be documented, her choice to fall back, and the second wave that cut them off. She kept her voice dispassionate as she told about the efforts to get her men to safety and how the commando droids had swarmed in to cut her off.

"Then I didn't know anything until I was chained in a dungeon, and started trying to get loose immediately. It looks like I lost at least a day of time unconscious? But I did get down, just in time for Ventress and a squad of droids to show up at the cell," Ahsoka said. She then paused, because she was normally open and honest about her Force experiences, but she'd never heard of a ghost before in her teachings.

"A definitely unpleasant turn of events," Aayla said, her hand reaching to rest on Ahsoka's for a moment. Then she paused, seeing that Ahsoka was troubled by something, and tipped her head. "What is it?" 

Qui-Gon kept his silence for the moment, waiting to see what she said. 

"Master, I think I have run into a really weird thing in the Force. Because I had help. I couldn't have evaded them and escaped if I hadn't, but I've never heard of anything like this in my classes… or the ones I sneaked into," she told Aayla. "I can hear, and sort of make out, a spirit in the Force, the one that's responsible for all those strange things that happen to protect the 212th and 501st boys."

The younger Jedi looked at Aayla to see how she was handling it to hear that.

Aayla blinked several times, but Ahsoka seemed to be utterly sincere. "That's not something I have heard of, either, but... I find it difficult to disbelieve anything, these days. A spirit in the Force?" 

~Yes,~ Qui-Gon said, as loudly as possible, trying to make Aayla hear him too. 

Ahsoka watched the other woman, saw she did not hear, and sighed. "He said 'yes', but you can't hear him. And I can only barely see the eddy in the Force where his voice comes from right now; I bet he ought to go rest and recover too, given he's been helping me so much.

"Not that I know what ghosts need." Ahsoka shrugged her shoulders. "He helped me get out, drew the Count away from the exit of the vents I used. I could see a ship up on a landing above me… definitely Serenno, by the way… and scaled the wall to it.

"Took out the pilot droid before it activated by taking out the motivator with a Force twist, then got out of system, heading back toward Mandalore rather than the Republic. Damaged the long range comms and hacked the transponder en route there, then jumped again from Mandalore to you. 

"Possibly should have put more shakes in the hyperspace route, but I was hungry and figured the Mandalore jump wouldn't be expected."

"Well, if they follow, they follow," Aayla said with a shrug, addressing the practical concern first. "We'll be waiting. I am intrigued about this Force spirit, but mostly I am proud of you for keeping your head, Ahsoka. Well done." 

~You're not wrong,~ Qui-Gon told Ahsoka, ~but I promised you I would stay with you.~ 

~Safe now. Go. We can talk later.~ Ahsoka was very thankful to him, but now she was concerned for him. "It's Master Jinn," she said out loud to Aayla. "I don't know much beyond that, but that's why it was our units."

Qui-Gon faded out completely, sinking to rest before he could be weakened even more. 

Aayla rubbed at the crease between her forehead and her lekku, but that was... "Well, if anyone was going to do something bizarre with the Force, it would be Master Jinn. But ooh, I have some things I wouldn't mind saying to him, if I got the chance...." 

Ahsoka giggled. "He left. He's been staying close until I got safe," she said. "I just… it is weird. I thought I'd heard it before, but never when I could think on it." She then looked at Aayla, tipping her head slightly. "I did right, not to jump to my grand-master, or my unit, right? To throw more dodges into it all?"

She was worried about Aayla getting hit by the Seppies, worried that the 212th would get hit thinking she went in that direction.

"You did," Aayla replied. "We're at full strength and haven't been hit for a few weeks, Ahsoka. If they somehow tracked you, far better they be drawn here. And I cannot imagine Dooku or Ventress would be fool enough to think that you would go back to your unit after this, not immediately -- you are more clever than that, as you have proven before. 

"With any luck, they'll think you went to Master Plo. I'll warn him, and Master Kenobi, while you get some rest." 

"Alright." Ahsoka finished the last of her jerky, and settled back on the bed. "Might sleep four whole hours!"

"We can only hope to be so lucky," Aayla said affectionately, and moved to draw the covers up over her. "Sleep well, Ahsoka."

* * *

Aayla centered herself in her quarters after careful consideration. The fewer comms she made about Ahsoka's whereabouts, the longer they could hold off being attacked, possibly.

She had spent several weeks under the care of one Plo Koon, helping her recover from her kidnapping, addiction, and brainwashing. She knew he kept a light link to his patients, in case they ever needed him again.

~Master Plo Koon?~ she quested, hoping he was neither in combat nor asleep… and that she could reach him.

~Aayla?~ Plo answered, after only a few seconds, ~why so formal, my dear? I am here. What do you need?~ 

She gave a smile, even in her almost meditative stance. ~I don't normally do this. But what I need to convey, to you and to Master Kenobi, is that Ahsoka Tano is found, safe, and brought back Dooku's own personal ship to us!~

~Oh, thank the Force,~ Plo sent, deeply relieved at the news. He had been unable to do anything to help, entirely tied down, but the news that Ahsoka had been captured had set ill with him. He had faith in her, but he still worried. ~That -- man's -- personal ship, truly. Well, then. I'll have to send someone to you to investigate it. Hm. Your grand-Master, do you think, or Master Jepet?~ 

~Master Tholme coming to me might tip people off that I am the one Ahsoka came to. Master Jepet is not in the field with soldiers, though, and might be the better idea,~ Aayla said after a moment to consider. ~I've only commed the 501st concerning her, and made no mention of her gift to the Republic. She is concerned you or Kenobi would be targeted as her likely choice of ally to return to, so I promised to reach out.~

~Hmm,~ Plo replied, nodding, ~she is not wrong to be concerned, I do not think. And of course you had to inform Skywalker -- or the good Captain -- immediately. I'll send Master Jepet to you, quickly as she can. I will also inform Obi-Wan that his grand-padawan is safe.

~That youngling never ceases to amaze me. Is there anything you need brought to you, when Master Jepet comes?~ 

~I will not say no to more meat-protein rations for her, as I do not feel she should be sent back to her unit until the 41st has broken them free of that system,~ Aayla told him. ~She is beginning to process the details of that final fight, and should have time before she is back among them facing danger again.~

~Indeed,~ Plo agreed, wishing uselessly that there was any help for his foundling's grief but time, ~and of course. She will need those, if she's to stay with you a while. I'm sure Master Jepet can bring a good supply. Force be with you both, Aayla.~ 

~And with you, Master Plo.~ Aayla pulled fully back into her own mind, opening her eyes to see hot tea, a vegetable roll, and Bly waiting for her patiently. "You spoil me," she said softly, glad to have him there.

"Every chance I get," Bly agreed, utterly unrepentant. "Is all well?" 

"Yes. We will be having a master Jedi join us… I want to say she is Kit's Master? Her name is Areen Jepet, and she is Falleen, and a Sentinel. So she will be able to dissect that ship," Aayla told him, picking up the tea. "We will keep Tano here to recover, until her unit is back in space."

Bly nodded, though the thought of Kit's Master aboard was a bit unsettling. "Good. To both, actually. Commander Tano won't be thrilled about that, but it's the best choice. Trying to break back through the _shu'shuk_ their AO's turned into would be an idiot's move... and _that_ she's not."

Aayla smiled, as Bly reinforced her own impression of the padawan. "Alright, then. The scans came back solid that the ship is not tracked, so I need to get our slicers in there to duplicate all the data. That much I can do before Master Jepet arrives, so we have a backup, just in case." She finished off the snack he had provided her, contemplating the best way to do that, and just what all of this might mean, if that ship did have good data.

The future had just found a new dose of hope.


	3. Plans Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Areen, Ahsoka, and Aayla make their plans for what Ahsoka has brought back.

Having reassured Obi-Wan that his grand-padawan was safely back aboard a Republic ship, surrounded by _vod'e_ , Plo sent his mind out searching for Master Jepet. He found her, eventually, and sent, mischief bright along the send and lengthening the 'a', ~Master?~ 

There was a moment, and then the woman in question answered, in a long-suffering tone, like Plo was still a teenager abducting her padawan for shenanigans, ~Hello, Plo. How may I help you?~

~I have a present for you,~ he replied, still mischievous. ~Or, well, Aayla does. My little Foundling has somehow escaped her capture in _that man_ 's~ and his mental voice dripped with his disdain and scorn, ~own ship and fled back to Aayla. Some Sentinel needs to take it apart, and I can think of no-one better.~ 

The pause before Areen replied was significant. ~Plo Koon, I know this is not a prank, but I find those words incomprehensible. By 'little Foundling', do you mean that tiny Togruta who used to audit my advanced classes, the one Mace was adamant be allowed to do so?~

~Yes, I do,~ Plo agreed, smiling at the mention of Ahsoka's sneaking in to any class she could find when she could not sleep any more. ~And of course it is not. She's padawan to Skywalker now, and was taken captive during their current campaign -- it's a mess, and I hope Luminara's forces will be able to get them out of it soon. I couldn't find her, when I last tried -- I have to think she was unconscious -- but somehow, she's escaped back to Aayla. In _his_ own ship, even.~

~I will extricate myself from my current location and join her,~ Areen said swiftly. ~Provide me coordinates, please?~

He could feel how excited and hopeful she was that the ship might have some clue for them to follow back to the Republic Sith.

The coordinates were an easy thing for Plo to provide, and he let his own hope join hers. Surely there would be something, with the way Dooku had always been. He left nothing to chance or whim, and kept meticulous records. Force knew his reports had been so dense they were a trial! ~Good hunting, Master.~ 

~Indeed, young one,~ she sent back, tweaking him a little with that description before she pulled away from him.

Plo chuckled to himself at her last words, and pulled back into his own mind to return to matters immediately at hand.

* * *

As predicted, Ahsoka was not pleased to be barred from trying to return to her unit. After being denied the chance to go join the 41st and aid them in the breakthrough, she sighed and looked for a way to be useful to the 327th.

Fortunately, Areen arrived late in that same evening, after Ahsoka had made this choice, and Bly suggested she assist the new Jedi joining them, since the ship was Ahsoka's capture.

This led to Ahsoka being the Jedi on hand as the single-man ship landed in the bay near Dooku's, and the Jedi Master exited.

"Welcome, Master Jepet," Ahsoka said, smiling brightly up at the tall Falleen woman. "I'm supposed to help you, if you want help, and Master Secura apologizes that she's not here to greet you but there's some trouble that needed a Jedi on the surface." 

Areen smiled and inclined her head to the young woman, seeing the small signs of the padawan having faced recent deprivations. "Greetings, Padawan Tano. It is a pleasure to officially meet you," she said. "As to Master Secura, I am certain I will have time later. And yes, I would like assistance, if you will aid me.

"It may be such mundane things as acquiring supplies for me, and acting as an interface with the men aboard, but I am not as familiar with the Army or Fleet workings."

"Of course, Master," Ahsoka agreed, though the comment about not being familiar with the men set her a little on edge. Her brothers were wonderful, and she wasn't sure of the Jedi that didn't know them. She'd watch and find out if it was just that she hadn't gotten to know them, or didn't want to. "I can definitely do that. Do you need anything, or just want to get to work?" 

Areen studied her a moment, then answered. "I have data pads, and micro tools. I'll know more once I am inside." She then gestured slightly to the bay. "I have not been in the field alongside them, young one. I have been behind lines or on planets that have not declared one way or the other.

"There is no slight to the brave men of the Grand Army, I assure you, merely a true unfamiliarity due to my assignments."

Ahsoka felt herself flush, cheeks and lekku alike, as she dipped her head -- she didn't remember Master Jepet being _that_ perceptive, not really... or had she just been that obvious? "I'm sorry, Master. Of course." 

She turned to trot up to the sealed hatch, tapping until it opened. "You've had way different messes to tackle than we do, then." 

"Indeed." Areen followed her. "Now, Padawan, let us see if your treasure trove can help save more of the men, and the citizens on both side of this conflict," she said, looking around inside the ship. "If I remember that arrogant whelp well, he kept data here that he might need in case of a retreat."

Ahsoka gave a startled trill at 'whelp', though she was grinning at it, and nodded -- and her curiosity got the better of her quiet. "You knew him, Master?" 

"Hard not to, when he was teaching one of Micah's dearest friends," Areen said casually, settling her tools around her for ease of use. "Micah Giiett, whom I am certain you have heard of, given who your Finder is."

Ahsoka nodded. "I know about Master Giiett," she agreed, "but I didn't know you were his Master, or if I did I don't remember. That makes sense." 

She tucked herself out of the way, trying to be quiet.

"Hmm, you could be learning this; I recall you had high aptitudes for mechanics and electronics alike," Areen said after a few minutes, aware that the young one had a lot of pent-up energy. "I don't just teach theory; I do practical applications."

Ahsoka grinned in delight at the comment and the praise alike. "I'd love to," she said, "and I might be able to find hidey-holes he's made, if the walls are thin enough to hear the echo behind... Not like Master Ti could, yet, but. I can try?" 

"So you can, young one." Areen gave her a kind smile, encouraging her, before she began explaining what she was doing, and why… setting the stage for proper training.

After all, her peer and friend, Tera Sinube, had already discreetly suggested the girl might be better on their path, and this recent escapade reinforced that.

* * *

Areen Jepet could not, even with all of her experience, control the jolt of fear and horror she felt as she managed to break the coding on one of the encrypted comm recordings. It was enough to spike her pheromones against her will, and Ahsoka, who had been napping nearby, came alert, hands flexing toward non-existent lightsaber hilts on instinct.

It made Qui-Gon aware of her, drawing him back from his own deep rest in the Force, as he had tied himself to her for the duration of her imprisonment and had not yet undone that.

"Calm, little huntress," Areen said, forcing her body to obey her own words.

"What is it?" Ahsoka asked, even as she felt Qui-Gon close by again. "What changed? I... heard? No... felt? No... What is it?" 

Areen tried to determine what the Force felt like, regarding this young woman, only an adult by her people's standards, not the Republic's. And yet, Jedi younglings always grew up too fast, it seemed, or at least in the more recent generations.

"I was startled by what I found, young huntress, and momentarily let my pheromones reflect my emotions," she said, rather than burden Ahsoka.

Yet, Qui-Gon knew Areen, and knew how rare it was for her control to slip. 

~Push, Ahsoka,~ he told her, intent on it, ~but carefully. For her to lose control means there is something truly critical. 'Startled' would not be enough to break her control.~ 

Ahsoka blinked, her head tilting slightly at Master Qui-Gon's words, before she looked at Master Jepet. "What is it, Master? I know it must be something bad..." 

"Padawan… it is true that someone else must know what I learned. But you are young still, and should not have to carry such a burden," Areen told her. "If you truly wish to know, you will not be able to reveal it to any of the men you so warmly champion, and very few Jedi, I think."

That left the choice on Ahsoka… but the girl was a survivor, and the Force seemed to call her strongly.

"I can keep secrets, Master," Ahsoka promised, "even from my boys. And as far as the Jedi go, if it's something the Council's going to know, that takes care of two of the three I'd talk to about... pretty much anything.

"I'll just worry, now." 

"Well said, but you may regret it. If anything should happen to me, it will fall to you to deliver copies of what I am finding. Master Secura is compromised by her relationship with her Commander… no need to play innocent; Kit does not lie or hide things from me.

"Nor am I one to fuss as long as the Jedi stays true to their duty," Areen said. "But it is why I am loathe to tell Plo as well, with his complications." She gave Ahsoka a measuring glance. "The men will not handle the name of the Sith, if I have pieced this together accurately, Padawan. For they trust him, and the loyalty conditioning may well kick in and cause them distress or worse."

Ahsoka had felt her eyes widen at the mention of Aayla and Bly's relationship despite herself, and then she said she knew because of Master Kit, and Ahsoka relaxed even before she said the part about not fussing. If Master Kit was okay with her knowing, it would be okay. 

But she didn't want to tell Master _Plo_ something? Because of Wolffe and the rest of the 'Pack? That worried her, but she took a slow, measured breath. The men would have a problem with the identity of the other Sith? How could that be? 

She shook her head once. Master Jepet would tell her, and then she'd understand, rather than chase her thoughts around in circles. "That doesn't sound good. But okay. Tell me. Who do I owe all my brothers' deaths to?" 

"The Chancellor himself, Padawan," Areen said, before keying the snippet of a conversation, complete with a glance beneath the hood's edge at a face Ahsoka knew too well.

Ahsoka snarled, holding herself in place by sheer will, even as panic hammered through her. Then a dozen conversations she'd been at the edge of flashed through her mind in a bare few moments, suddenly rearranged into a far worse, more sickening shape than the one she'd already held, and she clutched at the edge of the seat she'd been napping on, able to feel her blood moving into her core instead of her brain to fight even as nausea roiled up in her. 

~Oh, oh _no_ ,~ Qui-Gon said, though he wasn't sure she heard him. 

"Indeed, but we need to decrypt the rest for confirmation," Areen said. "And quickly. Dooku will be hunting for you and his ship diligently, which means winning this information away and into the hands of those who can topple him from power," she added. "Focus on that, on the lives you will save, if we can end his reign now!"

Ahsoka coughed against the nausea, freeing one of her hands to press the back of her knuckles against her mouth, as she shook her head. "I -- you don't understand," she said, having to struggle to stick to Basic instead of whistling, trying to find the words. "I.. I thought he just wanted _sex_ with my Skyguy, but if he's. If he's Sith. Then -- then the way he is with him is -- " 

Areen put those words against what she did know of the young Jedi, and her own color darkened with both anger and worry where the blood flowed close to the skin. "Ahh. Now I see it. Then… I will have to make Saesee handle that side of the investigation, to protect your Master from whatever manipulations have happened.

"As I now recall the boy has been our envoy to the Chancellor since shortly after his advent to the Temple."

Ahsoka nodded emphatically. "The -- that **chakaar** \--" the Mando'a curse came easier than whistle-profanity (Master Ti didn't curse much where she could hear, but the boys sure did), "is, or, he's pretended to be, pretty much Skyguy's best friend in the galaxy. He won't hear so much as a word against him..."

"Saesee is not so tied into his men's psyches that he would betray his unease as Plo might," Areen soothed. "I can reach out to him, ask him to take care of your master. And, if we move swiftly enough, we can handle it all before Knight Skywalker is even aware of it. Given I know several Senators who will act on this information the day I give it to them."

"Senator Amidala sure would," Ahsoka said, calming down a little for the Master's steady, sure tone and presence. She didn't sound like it was the end of the world, not like Ahsoka felt, so... there'd be a way. "But she might act on it by _shooting_ him, so... that might not be good." 

Master Tiin might not like her much, but he and Skyguy were pretty cool with each other, because of the piloting thing. That would... her Master would be okay. Rex and Fives would help take care of him, she knew they would. 

Areen settled down to get more work done, swiftly, while Ahsoka felt the eddy that was Qui-Gon almost swirling like a Kaminoan storm cloud, reacting to all that had been aired.

~It will be okay, right? She's not just soothing me down to make me settle?~ Ahsoka asked.

~We will find a way to make it so,~ Qui-Gon answered, trying to keep a grip on himself instead of flying apart with his dismay and grief and anger. Anger was so dangerous for him, but it was hard, right now, to turn it into useful resolve. ~I knew, I knew it was someone in the office, but I did not _dream_...~ 

~I thought he was just courting Skyguy, and since Skyguy is so oblivious to that outside of the Senator, I just let it go? Creepy old man wasn't getting anywhere… except what if he has? What if that's the real reason Skyguy can't think through when someone is in danger?~ Ahsoka had to struggle herself to keep her breathing regular as she worked at downloading files that had been re-encrypted with Jedi codes onto the spare data pads.

~What-if will only drive us mad, my little one,~ Qui-Gon told her gently, ~though I'm so tempted to join you in that tail-chasing. It won't do us any good. I don't think you're wrong, though, in that Anakin's responses have been... manipulated. Saesee will take care of your Master, I have faith. I just wish I could speak to him first, but he ignores me as much as everyone else does.~

~Master Secura seems willing to believe in you at least? Though, umm, she seems to have things she wants to say to you,~ Ahsoka said, to distract herself from her worry.

~I don't doubt that she does,~ Qui-Gon replied, trying to let amusement at that draw him away from the worst of his anger. ~She _was_ padawan to my Obi-Wan's dearest friend, after all.~

Ahsoka let her impression of Vos color her thoughts, most of them negative because of her love for the men that Vos disdained and outright was rude towards. ~We'll work on the whole not being heard thing.~

~I don't know what's wrong with the brat these days,~ Qui-Gon agreed with her impressions, ~but he needs a swift swat. And... I would much appreciate that.~

Ahsoka was steadier then, and settled to assist Areen with her work, using all of her mind to learn this.

* * *

The 41st arrived at the 501st's beleaguered position almost simultaneously with Separatist reinforcements. Likewise, the 212th and the 104th got hammered with new incoming fleets, proving the caution wise on warning both units.

"That means you disabled the tracking ability quickly enough that they do not know where you are, Ahsoka," Aayla said. "And they have not tracked your movements, Master Jepet, if they ever did figure out you were the Jedi strategist they should fear."

"But it also means that getting to Coruscant, the other place most likely to be a destination, is apt to be difficult," Areen said in conclusion to those thoughts. "It will not be my first time smuggling myself in past whatever spies and defenses have been activated by our foes," she continued, carefully not naming the enemy, since that was being withheld from any others outside of Ahsoka, herself, and Master Tiin, by necessity.

That Qui-Gon Jinn knew and could do nothing with his knowledge rankled the ghost.

"Ahsoka's never had to do that, though, and you've been adamant that she make her way there in a different ship." Aayla's lekku twitched thoughtfully. "Master Fisto is still the consular to the Chancellor… perhaps he could come here and acquire her?"

Areen shook her head. "He nearly always flies a solo ship, and changing that would raise alarms."

"I can do it." Ahsoka crossed her arms at both of them, jaw and lekku setting in stubborn lines. "I may not be as great a pilot as Skyguy or Master Plo, but I can pilot better than a lot of people. That's not my thought, though. I shift over to the nearest aid station and go back with the wounded being sent to garrison to heal and pull Coruscant duty."

"Biometric scanners -- " Aayla began.

"Can't see me if I'm in trance." ~You gave me the rundown; I can do it. I know I can,~ she told Qui-Gon, letting that contact bolster her.

~I will be there to help you,~ Qui-Gon agreed, ~if the first lesson was not enough.~ 

"In trance?" Aayla echoed, more than a little surprised. "I don't mean to sound as though I doubt you, Ahsoka, but the deep trance is not a skill I would expect any padawan to have. You're certain you can trance deeply enough to fool the scanners?" 

"Yes, Master." Ahsoka poured her confidence into that statement. ~You'll be able to wake me, right, so a vod doesn't have to be in on it? Or Fleet, who are all suspect at this point.~ "I didn't go that deep on the trip here from Mandalore, but I did drop as deep as I dared to ignore food and water needs," she added.

Areen moved the idea of training this young woman up a notch, once she had formally met Ahsoka's master, and could offer the secondary track for them. "Risky, but I think I could accompany you that far, and make them forget that you are aboard," she mused aloud.

~I will,~ Qui-Gon agreed, ~you hear me well, now.~ 

"But then who will wake her?" Aayla asked, remembering that finally. "I suppose you could meet her at the ship when it lands..." 

"I've got a trick up my… oh wait, no sleeves… gloves?" Ahsoka said, aiming for impudent just to make both women a little less serious in their frowns. "We can do this," she added confidently.

"One day, Padawan, you and I will have a long talk about these tricks you've acquired," Areen said with vague amusement. "For now… we shall have to risk it."

"I look forward to it, Master," Ahsoka said cheerfully, and smiled at the eldest woman present, because she really did. "Okay. And then I make my way to you, once I get to Coruscant?" 

"Do you know the way into the Temple from the Archive's third level?" Areen asked, both testing if Ahsoka had done the usual sneak in and out thing so many young ones did, and to see if that would work for an entry point. It was one of the few hidden access points that could be easily accessed by someone with the Force.

"The one where you have to tag the access plate with TK on the inside, otherwise it won't open?" Ahsoka asked, to be sure she was thinking of the right one. 

"Indeed," Areen said, giving a faint smile. "Use that way to come in, and make your way to Master Sinube's quarters. It is where we shall meet. He is known to you, and will accept you saying I sent you for reason to be present."

"'I can do that, Master," Ahsoka agreed, nodding. "Different than usual, I normally went out of the broken level on the North Tower and climbed down if I wanted to leave. Or get back in." 

"Ahsoka!" Aayla scolded for that, knowing just how young the girl was, but she couldn't hold it. "Who was your safe contact? Lissarkh? I was for your master."

"You were?!" Ahsoka asked, wide-eyed (mostly at the idea of her Master actually having _had_ a safe contact, instead of thinking he could handle everything) before she nodded. "And... yeah, usually Lissarkh." 

"Good."

Areen shook her head, making the long ponytail sway. "At least you both are aware of such things. If it hadn't been for Saesee being paranoid over the younglings he'd had to watch, we might never have known where the Five got off to." She then straightened her robes, making certain all her copies were safely in their inner pockets. "Shall we?" she invited Ahsoka, unaware of Qui-Gon's reaction to that comment on his group.

~He what?!~ Qui-Gon said indignantly, and glared at Master Jepet, before he trailed along behind them again.


	4. Divulgence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahsoka and Areen make it to the Temple, and proceed.

Ahsoka roused to a whisper of her name -- no, that was not a whisper, it was in her head. She listened further, and there was nothing moving near her, no heart beats. 

~Thank you, Master Jinn,~ she thought as she pushed away the cold from her place in the hold. Sneaking out of the ship and garrison was a simple thing, but she couldn't help but notice that the Guard seemed to be more present in the passages and walkways near the garrison.

That was odd to her; they had their own facilities nearer to the Senatorial complexes.

~I think the Sith is worried. I doubt Sith Spit told him about the missing ship, so… maybe using foresight?~

~Maybe so,~ Qui-Gon agreed, ~and no. My once-Master would _not_ admit to failure and a loss like this of his own will.~ 

~I need to not be noticed, though. My unit is not here and I did not come in by official channels. Might make the boys twitchy.~ She felt a nagging pressure in the Force about that, but she would chew on it later; now she just needed to get to Master Sinube without incident.

Coruscant itself felt edged in … something. Ahsoka heard even more anti-clone, anti-Jedi words than usual, and had to clench her hidden fist inside her poncho. All of her brothers and all of the Jedi were out there, dying to keep these people safe and this is what they thought?

~Calm down, Ahsoka. They have a Sith fueling their fear, giving them a target,~ she told herself.

~Yes,~ Qui-Gon agreed, ~they do have. I feel his taint more strongly than ever. Without your aid, I don't know that I could hold myself here at all. Not outside of the Temple, at least. None seem to have noticed you yet, and I will stub toes and make them stumble if need be.~ 

~Thanks, Master,~ she sent even as she wrapped her sense of the Force around him more securely, protecting their connection. She needed him; she was just a padawan and he was helping her be enough to do this!

* * *

Tera Sinube had lived a long time, seen many things, and been involved in a number of scenarios he would have preferred to spare the galaxy. The instant he heard the light tapping on his door, his sense of wariness rose, as the feeling of new Events loomed in his mind. 

He went to open the door himself, and found himself looking at the promising padawan of Skywalker.

"Ahh, young Tano. Whyever are you sneaking about the Temple now?" he asked in a calm, warm voice, preparing himself for adventure. His retirement certainly had been marked by them!

"Master Jepet told me to come to you when I got to Coruscant -- hasn't she gotten here yet? She should have been ahead of me," Ahsoka answered, worried, biting at the corner of her mouth. 

~Or she is just being mischievous herself,~ Qui-Gon said to her, trying to reassure her against that sudden worry. 

"My friend has not arrived yet, but there is a strong chance she found a delay," Tera told her. "Come in, and let me get you something to drink… water or milk-based, correct? No fruit juices." He guided her into the simple apartment, one table cluttered with notes and datapads, the other clear and obviously where eating was meant to happen. "Are you hungry?"

Ahsoka nodded. "Water or milk, yes," she agreed, "and... yeah. I think I am hungry again, no matter that I ate before I started this way. Thank you, Master." 

~I'll go see if I can find her,~ Qui-Gon said, ~so that you don't worry.~ 

~Thank you, Master, for that,~ she sent to the ghost as Master Sinube bustled around, making a meal that a carnivore could enjoy.

"Have you come to believe you should walk a Sentinel's path, if you are working with my friend now, young padawan? Master Jepet has trained many to rise to the need of the Republic, and the Order."

"I don't know about being a Sentinel yet," Ahsoka said, "though I liked the lessons she taught me before we both came back this way. It might be good? But first I have to make sure my brothers are safe. Before I think about anything like that. 

"I, um, sort of got kidnapped by the Separatists, and when I escaped I managed to steal -- the Count's --" she'd amended her usual profanity or derisive nicknames because Master Sinube was just... she'd be embarrassed to say that kind of thing in front of him, "ship. It had lots of important things on it." 

Tera looked at her and slowly smiled. "Well, then, Padawan, you are just full of surprises for us all. And of course Master Jepet would get involved directly then." He nodded. "Eat and drink, then, for when she arrives, we will be moving swiftly. That is one being I never could teach patience to."

"But she's _so_ patient," Ahsoka said, shocked and staring at him a little, even as she took a seat to rest and eat when Master Sinube brought food. 

"Ahh, but there was nothing to do at that point, other than the studying and analysis. Whatever has brought you both to Coruscant, on the other hand, will no doubt involve action, and she moves swiftly on that course."

"Oh," Ahsoka said, nodding once, "I can see that. She's definitely... determined." 

"A good word for her." Tera settled in the chair beside her, absolutely curious beyond belief, but willing to wait for Areen to arrive.

Which she did almost half an hour later, a scorched mark along her sleeve and her pheromones slightly sour from it.

"Were you your charming self in the wrong space?" Tera asked her. She snorted. 

"I thought to get the word from the twilight levels, and stumbled across a territory dispute," Areen said. "But it is settled, and the word is ugly. Hello, old friend; Padawan," she greeted them both, going to sit at the table with them, as she had let herself in, long familiar and welcome in these quarters.

"If you had been more patient, Master Jepet, you could have had the word without the cost of a scorch," Tera told her, calling an aid kit to hand so he could bandage the burn.

"It didn't sound good in the streets the way I came, either," Ahsoka agreed, but she stayed put -- it looked like Master Sinube had things in hand. "And it... feels wrong."

Areen harumphed at Tera, but allowed him to handle cleaning and bandaging the wound. "You have good instincts, Padawan. The Sith seems to have begun pushing the public again, possibly in response to the Force being hazier than usual about the future to be."

"So Tano theorized earlier, my friend. Questioning if the Sith is reacting to poor foresight now." Tera then looked at Areen's face. "You know who it is."

"For once, Dooku's annoying habits have played into our hands, Tera," she told him. "He had evidence on his ship, which Ahsoka brought us."

Ahsoka smiled sharp and satisfied -- it was better than falling into the anger and fear again -- and nodded. 

"We are facing a mastermind, as we knew, one who has manipulated the entire galaxy to a point that favors him. The Republic despises the Jedi currently, so we will work through the Senate," Areen said. "Ahsoka has one copy of the evidence, and I have another to give you, but we will show the Senators that we trust who it is.

"As just telling them they need to investigate Sheev Palpatine will get us nowhere," she finished.

Tera had opened his mouth, now closed it, and let the pieces slide into place in his mental map of the conspiracies. 

"That makes terrifying sense now, and we are facing a terrible fight ahead," Tera said.

"It sort of does, doesn't it?" Ahsoka agreed. "And... yeah. Um, Master Jepet? Have you heard anything from Master Tiin about my Master?" 

"No, young one, but Saesee is a man of his word, and he will get to Skywalker," Areen said. "You must focus on the here and now. Because you must choose now, if Amidala is to be trusted fully, and a part of the Senators we will take this to.

"I believe she is, but I do not know her personally, and you do. As she is from Naboo, she could, possibly, be the token resistance to Palpatine's machinations but actually in his camp."

Tera sat back to wait and see how Ahsoka answered, holding back his own observations.

Ahsoka shook her head hard. "There's no _way_ she knows. I mean, yeah, she thinks of him as a friend and a mentor, but that's because he's been lying to her, too. She's not part of his plans." 

/Except the ones to make my Master crazy,/ she thought, remembering all the times that the Senator had been in danger and her Master's control had been thin and fragile as a thread. "We can trust her." 

Tera nodded. "A good summation, Tano."

"Then you must arrange to meet with her, Padawan, and share your copies. Tera, you will go to your friend, the Wookiee representative?" Areen asked.

"Yes, as her voice is strong in the Senate," he told them.

Ahsoka nodded, taking a breath. "I can do that. ...I'd better get her away from 500 Republica, though, because she's not going to be happy. I bet Dex'll lend me the back room, though. That should work." 

"It should. Be careful, though. If you have any reason to believe she's been followed, bring her to the Temple," Areen said. "Organa is in her camp already, so I will speak with the Corellian observer. He can get the other Neutrals into place, to bring added pressure with their trade alliances."

"May the Force be with us all," Tera said, standing to begin this task, accepting the copies that Areen passed to him.

* * *

Padmé, dressed in casual clothes and wearing a modesty veil with headdress, slipped into the room with the waiting padawan, confused by Threepio's message. How was she here? Why? And what did it mean?

Ahsoka kept her nerves to a minimum by remembering her men were counting on her to end the war as swiftly as she could.

~She will be highly irate,~ Qui-Gon reminded. ~It was her demand for a vote of no confidence that allowed Palpatine to come to power.~

~It was?~ Ahsoka asked, startled, even as she got up to reach out for Padmé's hands. "Hi, Senator. Thank you for being so quick. It's good to see you." 

"It's very surprising to see you, Ahsoka. Last I knew, the 501st was on the front lines," Padmé said softly, after flicking on an anti-listening device with one hand before giving it back.

~Yes. In response to the inaction at Naboo. Which we can now surmise was engineered.~

~...she's going to _lose it_ ,~ Ahsoka said, because 'irate' was nowhere near strong enough. ~Super glad I got her away from her apartment and him.~ She tossed her head for a second as the hum hit her, wanting to wrap her hands around her montrals, but Padmé still had them and it'd be undignified anyway. 

"We were," Ahsoka agreed, "and my Master and the boys still are. But I sort of got taken prisoner and woke back up on Serenno?" 

Padmé squeezed her hands tighter and then looked her over head to toe. "Are you alright?"

~Obi-Wan gets it honest?~ Qui-Gon sent in reference to the understatement.

"I'm fine now," Ahsoka promised. "Had some bumps and bruises, but that's all taken care of. I managed to get loose, and get out of the castle... and the first, closest ship I saw was, well, the Count's. So I stole it!

"I jumped for Mandalore first, then got to Master Secura's unit -- they were close, and there wasn't much food I could eat or water on board. She and Fracture took good care of me, and one of the Masters that's a Sentinel came to take the ship apart." 

Padmé blinked at the tale, but that was perfectly in line with anything she might have done in the circumstances, and of course Anakin's padawan was just that talented!

"As long as you are safe. Sentinel? Those are the ones that work with the Judiciaries, yes?" The Senator considered just what that might mean for the galaxy. "You're here now because of something you found then?"

Ahsoka nodded. "Yep, they are. And... yeah. That's why I'm here. Master Jepet managed to decode a bunch of recordings the Count had made with his Master -- and you're really, **really** not going to like it. You're probably going to be even more furious than I am, and just as scared. But we need your help."

Padmé Amidala took in a deep breath, let it out very slowly, and reached for the discipline that had seen her through one invasion, multiple assassination attempts, and the general chaos of over a decade of strife in the galaxy that had culminated in this war.

"Tell me. I'm as calm as I can be, and will try to keep it reined in."

"I brought the data files," Ahsoka offered, "but.. okay. It. The Sith Master is -- it's the Chancellor, Padmé. He's -- " 

Padmé held up a hand, begging a moment to process that, while her brain refused to believe it. In the next moment, though, she paled drastically, and had to settle back in the seat, to ground herself.

"Does Anakin know yet?"

Ahsoka nodded, reaching to take her hand again. "Master Tiin went to talk to him, to help him -- because I _know_ that traitorous piece of vacuum-sucking filth has been messing with his head -- so yeah. Either he does, or he will really, really soon. It'll be okay... he and Master Tiin get along really well. 

"I wish it was Master Plo, because I know Master Plo better, but Master Jepet was right, if he knew he wouldn't be able to keep it from his men and that would be _bad_." 

Padmé nodded. "Master Koon does seem to be very committed to his men," she agreed. "But… I'd think they would demand he face trial swiftly, as a traitor to the Republic?"

~She may not understand the loyalty that is built in, that the Chancellor is ultimately their uppermost leader?~ Qui-Gon said, to give insight to Ahsoka.

Ahsoka shook her head, looking at Padmé thoughtfully. "The ones like Wolffe, maybe? He's been through so much. But they're _so_ indoctrinated in loyalty to the Republic, and to him as the leader of it and the Supreme Commander. They'd hear the accusation as treason against him, more likely than not. I don't know if even Rexter would be able to actually hear it and believe. Not until the Senate does something, anyway." 

"Oh." Padmé tapped her fingers on the table lightly. "That means we must present this in closed session, so that the HoloNet doesn't incite riots and mutinies among your men." She nodded briefly. "You mentioned recordings?" She was already sifting through her allies, deciding who to bring to a safe house -- surely Bail had an appropriate place -- so they could handle this swiftly.

"Yeah, that would be best," Ahsoka agreed. "Not that they pay a lot of attention to the Senate channel --" she rolled her eyes, "-- when there's more 'interesting' stuff to find, but. It would be just our bad luck." Then she nodded and brought out the pad and projector, shifting it to face Padmé before she triggered the oldest of the recordings to play. 

Padmé watched, committing it to memory, while she seethed on the inside. The man had first engineered the invasion on her world, and then steadily conspired to plunge the galaxy into war. All those moments when her husband had -- 

No, she could not think about the quiet arguments that they had been having lately.

"No more." she said after the first one. "I need to assemble my allies. This Master Jepet, are they arranging others to know this as well? I need to coordinate efforts."

Ahsoka reached and shut it off, understanding her reaction. "Yeah, she is. And Master Sinube is going to the Wookiee Senator? I didn't catch her name. Master Jepet is going to the observer from Corellia. She said something about Senator Organa already being in your camp, so I guess he's a contact of hers too?" 

"I'll ask him about that," Padmé said. "Alright. If you stay with me, it will cause too much attention. May I have these, or do you want to twin them to my pad?"

"You can have it," Ahsoka said, "it's disconnected from everything -- we broke everything but the hard-wire ability, and that's got a code to unlock the hardware. We have another set of copies in the Temple. 

"Be careful, Padmé. Be so very careful. Skyguy... well, you know." 

"Indeed, Ahsoka." Padmé took the pad, tucked it away very securely, and then moved to embrace the girl. "Be safe."

"I will," Ahsoka promised, and hugged her tight. "I wish I was with my boys, but I can't get there right now. So I have to work here to protect them." 

That earned a smile, before they parted ways.


	5. Reunion and Denouement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having completed her part of the mission, Ahsoka goes HOME.

Ahsoka did not stay for the political fight that was about to ensue. She was safely in hyperspace when all hell broke loose in the Senate chambers. The Jedi that were on the planet had been, wisely, stationed to be there for assistance if it came to blows, but she just knew it was time to be home.

Home was where Skyguy and all her boys were, even if the fighting had not yet cleared up in their system.

She broke free into real space to see clean-up from a space battle and four fighters homing in on her instantly.

"This is Commander Tano, out of Coruscant, seeking to rejoin my unit!" she quickly transmitted, with her clearance codes.

"Sir!" The voice from the closest fighter had a wild joy to it, and wings painted with 501st blue dipped and flared. "You're back!" 

"Understood, Commander Tano," came from the _Resolute_ , from Admiral Yularen. "Welcome back. General Skywalker is still on the ground, if that influences your decision on which part of the 501st you wish to rejoin." 

"Thank you, Admiral. And yes, I'm back!" Ahsoka grinned madly in the cockpit of her borrowed fighter. "I should report in to my Master, Admiral. Thank you." She set her course for the landing zone beacons below, ignoring the presence of her friend, Barriss, on the second capital ship in orbit. She needed to see her men, and be certain her master was alright.

It did not take long, nor did she fail to note her pilots making certain to cover her descent, just in case any of the vulture droids were only playing dead.

* * *

On the ground, Squeak had caught the comm chatter from above, and he hit the Captain's band. "Sir?" 

"What is it?" Rex asked, the 'now' unspoken but clearly heard. Between the original scope of the campaign being woefully under-briefed, and the initial assault, plus the onslaught of Grievous's fleet just after reinforcements arrived, Rex needed a drink.

"Jedi fighter inbound," Squeak reported, let that hang for a breath, and added, "it's the Commander." 

Rex swore all comm officers needed lessons in not trolling their leaders. Later.

"I'll tell the general," he said. "Don't spread it yet. Need to be sure she's not tired or injured." He privately wished harm on anyone that might have hurt her.

"Understood, sir," Squeak agreed, grinning to himself at the edge in his Captain's voice. After all of this last campaign, he was taking entertainment anywhere he could get it. 

Rex set out for Skywalker then, glad that Luminara had withdrawn to her ship and that Tiin had left after the battle with Grievous.

He didn't jog, but his pace was brisk, so he would beat the ship landing. He wondered if his general would prove to already know.

"Rex?" Anakin asked as he half-felt, half-heard his Captain approaching the ship he was mostly-buried in, trying to get it back to operational. "What is it?" 

"Good news, for once, sir," Rex told him. "Jedi fighter, inbound. With our Commander." Inside his bucket, he was smiling, just a little. They all needed her back.

Anakin started to sit up, remembered where he was just in time to only barely knock his forehead against the ship, and reached out -- he could feel her, then, but he hadn't noticed her come out of hyperspace? 

"She must've been shielding," he muttered, then lifted his voice, "thanks, Rex! I'll be out of this thing in a minute; go meet her?" 

Rex decided he was not going to be insulted. Of course he'd go meet the missing _jetii_! "Yes, sir!" He turned then to get to the actual landing area, well down from where the broken ships were being repaired or salvaged.

As he passed the first of the strip of marker signals, he actually saw the little fighter on the horizon, and felt something in him shift, settle into place, to actually know she was back. Which, he reminded himself, was patently ridiculous, no matter that Skywalker had more or less let Rex keep up with her on his own those first couple of weeks, after Tatooine. 

She was Commander Tano of the 501st, though, and that mattered more than he wanted to admit.

Anakin scrambled to get the ship to where he could leave it and dragged himself out of it to jog after his Captain -- he wanted to hold his padawan and know she was safe. Yes, Master Tiin had told him she was, that she was helping on Coruscant, but no matter how much more he trusted the old Master after all the work on his psyche they'd had to do... it still wasn't easy to believe she was fine when she'd been taken the way she had. 

The ship looked like one straight out of the Temple bays, which was at least a little soothing -- though it was weird to see a ship that unscathed -- as it touched down while he was still a good ways away. 

"Thank you, DeeNine," Ahsoka said as the canopy popped and she could see the hard-wired astromech in his socket directly. "We'll get you home when we can." She patted his dome, then launched herself out of the cockpit, landing on the ground easily enough to see Skyguy coming from one side, and Rex already waiting on her. "Hey, Rexter," she said with a sly grin. "Miss me?"

"We all did," Rex answered, his eyes raking over her, looking for any injuries, any new scars. He didn't find any on a first look, and he actually let himself reach for her shoulder to catch hold of her. "Welcome home, sir." 

She brought her own hand up in time with him, completing the greeting with a firm grip on his shoulder. "Glad to be back. I missed all of you!" She winced a little, in the eyes, and he saw it, knew she had thought about the ones that wouldn't be here.

He nodded, tightening his grip -- he understood, all too well. His Litany had too many more names after this campaign -- as he said only, "We're glad to have you back." 

Anakin made it to their sides, then, and slung his left arm around his padawan before she had even let go of Rex. "Snips," he said, low and soft, all too aware his heart was in his voice. He was so glad to have her home he could barely stand it, and he -- unlike his men -- knew what she'd had to face alone. 

Ahsoka turned, letting go of Rex, and just wrapped her arms around Anakin's waist, tucking in against his chest, propriety be damned! He'd been through hell, she just knew it, because of that filthy piece of lying, scheming Sith!

"Skyguy!" She squeezed a little tighter, then breathed, with all the loyalty and care of a padawan, "Master."

"My padawan," Anakin answered, enfolding her in his arms and pressing his cheek against the top of her head, between her montrals. "Oh, little one... _thank_ you." 

"Didn't do anything major," she demurred. "Just was my usual self. And I got out of there before the heavy lifting started this time!" She then looked around camp, frowned, and sighed. "Guess they haven't got it all sorted out."

Rex felt the edge of the puzzle that he wasn't seeing, and that irritated him, but she was here safe.

Anakin snorted at her and thumped against her back with his left hand, breathing the scent of her and recent-space-travel for a few seconds. "No, not yet." 

He wasn't looking forward to when that word did come down, but... at least then he could quit hiding it from Rex. He picked up the sound of running clone feet a moment after Ahsoka shifted in his arms, and he lifted his head to see Fives and Echo and Hardcase and Dix inbound to them from three different directions. 

Ahsoka turned to see some of her boys, and she tore apart from Anakin to go solidly thump into Dix's chest, hugging him fiercely; he'd been at her fight, and here he was, still in one piece!

"Oh boys!!!!" she said, before greeting the rest of them more properly. Well, she'd tried to be proper, anyway. Hardcase had other ideas. 

"She really is home, sir," Rex said quietly to Anakin in the bemusement of being abandoned so swiftly for the men.

"Yeah," Anakin agreed, smiling at the sight of his padawan held against solid armor and safe among their boys. "She sure is. Good to see, isn't it." 

"Yes." He tapped his comm for Squeak. "Alright, Squeak. Bonfire tonight, barring any more droid nests being found. Spread the word."

"Elek, Captain!" came the enthusiastic reply.

"I like this plan," Anakin agreed, rolling his shoulders a little -- they so much more than needed the break. Even with Grievous actually dead (thank the Force for that Master Tiin had called Master Mundi in just in time to cordon the planet before Grievous escaped again), the droids that had taken this particular Rim-World had just _not_ given up. Though they hadn't found any more in the last ten hours, so. There was that. And now Snips was here.

* * *

The entire camp was assembled, save the sentries and a few patrols, when Anakin felt his comm pulse from the _Resolute_. He moved off to take it, as Ahsoka was winding up on telling what actually happened in her time away, edited to protect them from their training.

"Secure transmission from the Senate itself," Yularen said once they had connected. "Skywalker, you need to listen to the message first, and then decide how to disseminate it. Then advise if you wish me to do so to the men aboard."

Anakin sighed heavily, and fished the earpiece out of a pouch so that the transmission would go to it and not broadcast-audio. "I understand, Admiral. Push it through." 

There was a formal introduction from the spokesperson, a Senator that Anakin did not recognize the name of immediately, in the pre-recorded message. The being sounded pained, even from a human perspective.

"The Republic has faced its greatest betrayal, and deepest tragedy. We are seeking for the Jedi to curtail all but defensive efforts until everything can be investigated. This is in the aftermath of the accusations of treason brought to bear on the former Chancellor, Sheev Palpatine, that led to violence in the Senate this very day.

"As of now, the Republic is in a state of Emergency, with the Security Council seeking to quickly make an interim appointment of leadership from those members on Coruscant and currently intact. There were many injuries, not a few deaths, and we owe a deep debt to both the Order and the men of the Coruscant Guard, who sacrificed themselves today to save all of us from the Sith we had been deceived into trusting.

"There is no question of guilt, Master Jedi and Fleet officers. Caution is urged concerning the information that Sheev Palpatine was a traitor and the true Sith behind everything, where your men are concerned. The Guard was hard-pressed to act on behalf of the Republic until they witnessed clear use of Sith powers.

"May the Force be with you."

Anakin closed his eyes, his hand pressed up across his brow, as he wondered who had died. How many brothers had been slain when the Senate tried to call Palpatine out on what he'd done? How many Senators or their aides? 

Padmé? She would have been there, she had to have been there -- no, he'd know. He'd **know** if she was hurt. 

How many Jedi? How many units were going to be mourning their General or Commander tonight, when the word reached them? 

And how did he tell his boys? He'd been turning that over, and over, in his head, and he still wasn't sure -- and now he was out of time to figure it out. 

Ahsoka glanced his way several times, but kept the boys focused on her. She couldn't hold Fives and Rex, not with Anakin distracted and both so attuned to him. However, they were both smart enough to not intrude when he was focused on on his comm instead of the story.

Fives just managed to move a little closer, to be there to help, however he could, while Rex kept an eye on his general from a little farther away.

Anakin felt the attention, knew it for Fives, and turned towards him without opening his eyes or dropping his hand, beckoning with the other. Fives had been staying close to him through this, through all of Ahsoka being missing and through his being unable to talk about the pain riding him. 

"Get Rex," he said, soft, "without making a scene -- more than I already did, anyway." 

"Commander held most everyone's attention," Fives answered just as quietly. He then shifted away just a little, and fine-tuned his comm down to the captain, using pulse code. [General, move careful, now.]

Rex translated the pulse, then waited for a moment when the men started laughing at the way Ahsoka had phrased something. He then moved around to an edge, circled over to Anakin's side of things, and made his way to the Jedi.

"Sir," he said quietly, close enough to be heard.

"Hey," Anakin replied, finally dropping his hand and looking at the two men that ran his unit, as he took a slow breath. "So you two are finally going to get those answers you've very carefully not been pushing me for. Snips already knows. Come on, in here," he jerked a thumb at the nearest of the buildings, "we need some discretion on this." 

Fives tried not to look too startled at being included in the briefing for something this big, by the feel of it. He could rationalize it that he often acted as company leader for whichever platoons Ahsoka worked with, when he wasn't directly involved in Torrent affairs. 

Rex moved along with, hand-sign to Jesse when that one looked over, to keep the men calm and happy. Jesse signed back that he would, before glancing around for possible problems to that plan.

Anakin saw the sign, relaxed a little more, and shut the door behind him them once Rex and Fives were inside. He flicked the lighting on with the Force, as it was just out of his reach, and raked his fingers through his hair for a moment. "You both know I would never deliberately lie to you, right? That I give you the best intel I've got?" 

"Of course, sir," Fives said, hotly, as he worried that someone had made Anakin doubt their faith in him.

"You have a need-to-know briefing?" Rex asked far more calmly, cutting through to the heart of it. "Or something else, sir?"

"Easy, Fives," Anakin said quietly, as he looked at Rex. "Some of both. Master Tiin was here to work with me because of intel Ahsoka found -- she stole Dooku's own ship to escape, that's what Aayla was hinting around to you, Rex -- but that mostly couldn't be acted on right away. It just... sent up about a thousand red flags about me -- whoa, whoa, _easy_ , boys. 

"Master Tiin was here to _help_ me, not get on my case, because of the danger i was in." 

Fives, who had riled right up, and Rex, who had suddenly looked more dangerous than a krayt dragon, both still looked uneasy at another Jedi interfering with theirs over 'red flags'.

"And the comm you took?" Fives pressed. "It's meshed with that?"

"Yeah," Anakin agreed, "it is. Ahsoka and the Master that went to help her found comms between Dooku and his Master, the Sith that we've been trying -- and failing -- to flush out of the Republic since this all started. His Master was..." he swallowed, "someone I trusted. And definitely as highly placed in the Republic as Dooku taunted my Master with." 

Rex felt alarm bells ring as his general said 'someone I trusted'. He'd learned, over their campaigns together, that the number of people Skywalker trusted was exceedingly small, and mostly present on this planet currently. The ones who were not--

"Save us from the waves," Fives whispered as he went pale and vaguely nauseated, making the same rapid check-off list that Rex had. Those words, for survivors of Kamino and the culling of defective soldiers, summed it up far too well, as Rex turned his face away to wrestle with his own deep reactions.

"All of this… a karking dejarik game?" Rex finally asked, to confirm where his suspicions had fallen. There was just no way it was the Senator, and that left only one other politician that Skywalker regularly dealt with. His emotions were a tangled knot of grief and rage, but he had it contained, pulled in tight to his skin rather than let it lash out through his _jetiise_. They had been used as much as any brother.

"Oh, you two," Anakin said, low and rough, his heart aching for them as he moved to put one hand on each of their shoulders, looking between their faces -- once Rex looked back to him, at least. "So damn smart. 

"Yeah, Rex. All of it -- just a ploy, a dejariik game, to create a new Sith Empire out of the ashes of the Republic... and probably the Seps, too." He shook his head, not able to think about that part. "And he. Wanted my power at his side, even if that meant turning me into someone else to do it. The comm was from the Senate, official information that the former Chancellor has been found to be a traitor. That we're all supposed to pull back to nothing but defensive efforts until --" 

Anguish and shock and disbelief and anger flared suddenly through the Force from above, making him lean on Fives' shoulder as he reeled, and his words broke off in a curse. "41st knows," he explained, "they're... not taking it well." 

"They wouldn't, and … well, Gree will have his hands full. The two he's got aren't _jetiise_ like you and the Commander," Rex said.

Fives gave added support to his general, before making a quiet sound at that. "Truth, but Dagger says they're still good at listening to the men. Mostly. The Commander has been a bit off lately, withdrawn." He then shook off his musing on the 41st, and focused on Anakin. "We are yours, to the last man," he said. "If you just tell us all what the Senate said, that will be enough.

"You add in the truth of how he tried to steal you from your own true self? It will give a focus, to help push through the pain of our losses. But that's up to you."

Anakin shook his head a little, pulling himself back upright. "I know, Fives, I know..." Little as he might think he deserved it, he knew it to his bones. These men were his, looked to him more than the abstract ideals of their training, and followed him into _haran_. It sometimes took his breath away to feel it. "But it apparently went bad with the Guard, until they saw him using Sith powers -- probably Force Lightning. 

"As to 'up to me'... I'm not so sure it is. You all know I've been his favorite. I need to tell the others." 

Rex considered, then nodded. "I think you do, sir, for more than we know that he liked to use your skills," he said. "We know that ultimately, the Jedi had little choice in taking command. We know they have a lot of freedom to decide how the war is operated, but that if they had refused the command, they would have been branded as traitors before the end of that first year.

"So we do empathize with all of the Jedi to a degree. Knowing that one we have chosen was aimed at being a slave to something so vile and against his nature? That will reinforce the connections, and give us all a stronger grounding going forward, to protect and save each other."

Fives listened, and nodded, hearing Rex lay it out on why Anakin needed to share the full truth.

Anakin flinched at the phrasing -- Rex didn't know, but that didn't make it easier to hear, no matter how true it was -- but he nodded. "You're right, Rex. Pfask, but this is going to suck. We'll get through it, though." 

He looked at both of them, his eyes searching. "No problems with your training, either of you, hearing the Chancellor called a traitor?" 

Fives and Rex shared a look, then shook their heads. 

"No, sir, but… all jokes aside, we're both _complicated_ at you," Rex said, making Fives grin. That story was all through the officers, about Rex refusing to get tied up in a Jedi or _jetii_ the way other officers had. "Meaning that your life and well-being will always supersede our training. Our shinies? Might have a problem. Best to play the Senate's message, and then follow up."

Anakin laughed, though there was little actually funny about it, and nodded. Ever since Kix had let him up out of the berth, after Master Tiin had worked on his head, he'd had Fives mostly at his side, and what he hadn't been able to see before was coming clear. Fives was so devoted to Echo... but it seemed there was space for him, too, in Fives' heart. Now he just had to figure out what to do with that. Padmé had Sabé, and had mentioned that she wished he wasn't so alone so much... 

"All right, yeah. Let me comm Yularen back, tell him I'm going to handle things down here, then be up to address our boys shipside -- I don't want him handling the _vod'e_ \-- and we'll go out and deal with this." 

He tapped the comm through, gave his decision to the Admiral, and took a slow breath. "No time like the present, right?" 

"None at all."

* * *

Ahsoka looked over the sleeping camp, sitting on one of the AT-TEs with a mug of caf in her hands. "Bet you didn't think it would all work out this way when you came to help me, huh?"

Qui-Gon's presence settled near her, looking forward to the day when she taught others to hear him, so he would not be so alone. He considered the night, when he had come because his Foundling had been so agitated, and how the men had rallied around him and a promise to make a future worthy of those that had been lost to the war.

~I merely wished to keep you safe, so no, I did not. But here we are.~

Ahsoka smiled, and let the silence of the early dawn wrap around them both once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, everyone.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [As She Moves the Stars](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17382320) by [Merfilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly)




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